This Weekend in Politics, Bulletin 101

… Trump said today “there are methods” that would allow him to run for a 3rd term. He was asked by NBC about the fact that he has not yet publicly agreed that the Constitution bars him from running again. Trump on whether he will attempt it: “A lot of people want me to do it. But, I basically tell them we have a long way to go, it’s very early in the administration.”

… He was asked if he was actually serious about this since the Constitution is pretty clear: “I’m not joking. But it is far too early to think about it.” When asked if someone has advised him specifically on how he could legally do it, Trump responded: “There are methods which you could do it.”

… Trump also claimed that he was “very angry” and “pissed off” at Putin’s latest comments that he will not negotiate a ceasefire or peace agreement until a provisional government is installed in Ukraine because he doesn’t want to negotiate with Zelensky. Trump said the talks are now “not going in the right location.”

… “If Russia and I are unable to make a deal on stopping the bloodshed in Ukraine, and if I think it was Russia’s fault - which it might not be - but if I think it was Russia’s fault, I am going to put secondary tariffs on all oil coming out of Russia. If you buy oil from Russia, you can’t do business in the US. There will be a 25% tariff on all oil, a 25-50 point tariff on all oil.”

… Russia is bombing apartment buildings, schools, and hospitals daily. How is it not Putin’s fault? He also has zero plan to end this conflict. He never did. So he just keeps rolling out nonsense.

… Trump was also asked if he was serious about making Greenland part of the US: “We’ll get Greenland. Yeah, 100%.” He said there’s a “good possibility that we could do it without military force, but I don’t take anything off the table.”

… Fox host Jesse Watters: “We don't need friends. If we have to burn a few bridges with Denmark to take Greenland - we’re big boys. We dropped A-bombs on Japan and now they’re our ally.”

… Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL): “From what I gather, the people of Greenland are very much supportive of Greenland becoming potentially a US Territory.” (The most recent poll showed only 6% of Greenlanders want to become part of the US).

… Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA): "This is a crazy foreign policy, and America is stronger when we have allies. America alone is weaker if we don't have that intelligence sharing, if we don't have these mutual defense pacts."

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If you missed Friday’s Bulletin, you can read it here.

… Iran’s president Masoud Pezeshkian responded to a letter he received from Trump by rejecting direct negotiations with the US about its nuclear program. Trump withdrew the US from Tehran’s nuclear deal with several countries in 2018, and since that time Iran’s nuke program has rapidly accelerated.

… US State Dept issued a statement: “The president expressed his willingness to discuss a deal with Iran. If the Iranian regime does not want a deal, the president is clear, he will pursue other options, which will be very bad for Iran.”

… Trump to NBC: “If they don’t make a deal, there will be bombing and it will be bombing the likes of which they have never seen before.”

… He ran as the “No New Wars” candidate.

… Politico reported that behind the scenes several members of Trump’s inner circle are apoplectic about his massive tariffs taking effect on April 2: “Behind closed doors, top admin officials are deeply concerned, with many quietly admitting they're unsure what the president is actually going to do. One source: 'No one knows what the fuck is going on'.”

… “With less than a week to go, even the most basic details including which countries will be hit, at what rates, and for which goods, remain undecided or constantly shifting. WH officials have spent the past several weeks privately assuring business leaders, financial executives, and Republican lawmakers that a clearer, more stable trade agenda is coming. Trump has repeatedly overridden or contradicted his own advisers on trade policy.”

… “Officials like J.D. Vance, Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent have pushed for a smaller, more targeted tariff plan, or at least a structured rollout that allows businesses to prepare.” The sources said Trump’s staff was completely blindsided when he suddenly announced 25% tariff on auto imports. Nobody at the WH, in Congress, or the auto industry knew it was coming.

… WH Economic Adviser Kevin Hassett was asked on Fox about the tariffs "I can't give you any forward-looking guidance on what's gonna happen this week. The president has got a heck of a lot of analysis before him, and he's gonna make the right choice I'm sure."

… Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who embarrassed himself in multiple TV appearances the last two weeks, has apparently been put in timeout by Wiles. He has been off TV for a week and his office has refused all interview requests.

… Dr. Peter Marks, head of vaccine research at FDA, resigned his position in protest of RFK Jr’s recent statements and policies: “It has become clear that truth and transparency are not desired by the Secretary, but rather he wishes subservient confirmation of his misinformation and lies.”

… RFK Jr. told Fox earlier this month that he was delivering vitamin A to measles-stricken communities in West Texas immediately. But a Texas health official told The Atlantic that no doses of vitamin A ever arrived at the state health department—not because RFK Jr. broke his promise, but because Texas doctors didn’t want them.

… Lara Anton, spokesperson for state health dept, said her office refused the shipment from HHS “because healthcare providers have not requested it from us.” Kennedy also said that he believes budesonide, clarithromycin, or cod-liver oil can treat measles, but the health department apparently doesn’t want those either.

… Trump was asked by NBC about the WSJ report that he told auto company CEOs not to raise prices despite the tariffs: “No, I never said that. I couldn’t care less if they raise prices, because people are going to start buying American-made cars. I couldn’t care less. I hope they raise their prices, because if they do, people are gonna buy American-made cars. We have plenty. If the prices on foreign cars go up, they’re going to buy American cars.”

… Senior Trade Advisor Peter Navarro was asked on Fox what the message is to the American consumer when Trump says he doesn’t care if prices go up: “The message is that tariffs are tax cuts. Tariffs will make America great again.”

… Former Fox host Brit Hume responded to Navarro’s comment: “Yes, and night is day.”

… Fox host to Navarro: What do you say to people who say we hired the president to make the economy better, but now he says there's going to be disruption in the short term because of these tariffs? Navarro: “Trust in Trump.”

… Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) was asked on CNN about prices rising because of Trump’s tariffs: "I feel like in some ways in the economy this is kinda like a kitchen remodel or a bathroom remodel. There's a bit of a mess at the beginning - it's going to be noisy for a little while."

… Trump was asked if he was going to fire Waltz or Hegseth after the Signal scandal: “I don’t fire people because of fake news and because of witch hunts. I think it’s just a witch hunt and the fake news, like you, talk about it all the time, but it’s just a witch hunt, and it shouldn’t be talked about. We had a tremendously successful strike. We struck very hard and very lethal. And nobody wants to talk about that. All they want to talk about is nonsense. It’s fake news.”

… CBS reporter Jennifer Jacobs: “The White House is considering creating its own seating chart for journalists in the briefing room, which has traditionally been managed by the WH Correspondents Association.”

… Democrats Reps continue to hold town halls in the districts where their Republican Reps refuse to do them. Rep. Greg Casar (D-TX): “Republican members of Congress are refusing to host town halls, so I showed up to answer questions from Rep. Chip Roy’s constituents. No paid protesters in sight — just hundreds of people fed up with Trump and Musk’s attacks on Social Security and Medicaid.”

… Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) and Rep. Maxwell Frost (D-FL) teamed up to do a rally in Rep. John James’ (R-MI) district. Murphy trolled James by tagging him with a video: “Hey Rep. James, you refuse to hold town halls because you can't defend throwing millions off their health care to fund a tax cut for your billionaire patrons. So Maxwell Frost and I did the public meeting that you won't, and your constituents had this simple question for you:

… Murphy then pointed the camera at the packed house, who yelled in unison: “Where are you?”

… Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-IN) at her town hall on deportations: “You violated the law, you are not entitled to due process.” That’s exactly when you are entitled due process the most - when you are accused of violating the law. Most of the crowd left halfway through it after booing and heckling her throughout.

… Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) had a raucous town hall: “Nancy Mace is trying to censure me, Donald Trump is trying to arrest me, Elon Musk has promised us a primary in the next election. If this is my enemy list, then we are probably doing something right!”

… Garcia: “Things cannot stay the same. Maybe you have seen the recent rallies that AOC and Bernie have been hosting. They are motivating young people. What they are doing is something I believe is the Democratic message. The message is that right now, it's all of us versus the billionaires who want to take more of our hard earned money so they can give themselves larger tax cuts.”

… Garcia: “Fortunately there's a young talented group of people that are sprouting up across this country that are building these new YouTube sites. Some of you might know MeidasTouch.”

… Garcia then brought the house down with a loud standing ovation with this: “I will never stop pushing back and fighting Musk and Trump until you throw me in Guantanamo Bay. I promise you that. If you are not willing to stand up and understand that our democracy and everything we love about this country is actually in danger, then step away for someone that is willing to do that.”

… NPR reported that the international "Tesla Takedown" protests were held in 253 cities around the world on Saturday.

… Elon Musk posted: “They literally are paid protesters!”

… Musk later posted: “The goal of the Left is to destroy my influence. So they relentlessly push negative propaganda about me like the fake Nazi stuff and ignore anything positive. They are evil.”

… Musk continued his Victimhood Tour on Fox: “My companies are suffering because I'm in the government.”

…. An appellate court declined to hear the emergency request filed by WI AG Josh Kaul to block Musk from handing out million dollar giveaways in an attempt to buy votes in the state’s key Supreme Court election on Tuesday. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that the order from the court stated that Kaul had not filed or supported his motion properly, which forced them to deny the request.

… Republican candidate Brad Schimel has suddenly decided to try to distance himself from Musk after backlash over buying votes. He was asked if he was going to be at Musk’s rally today in WI where he was handing out two separate million dollar checks: "We have no plans to be there. We have a very aggressive campaign calendar. I have no idea what he's doing. I have no idea what this rally is."

… Kid Rock endorsed Schimel this weekend.

… Musk to Fox: “We’re trying to stop the Democrats from gerrymandering Wisconsin. We could lose control of the House and all of the reforms could be shut down.”

… I’m sure Democratic candidate Susan Crawford approves of that message.

… Democratic nominee in FL’s special election for congress Josh Weil, who is making odious and perpetually sweaty Randy Fine nervous in their R+30 district: “It's undeniable, you can feel the movement and early numbers show, they want something different for our country and in Congress. Early voting is going on now. Do you have a plan in place to vote?”

… WSJ reported that Pete Hegseth brought his wife, a former Fox News producer, to two meetings with foreign military counterparts where highly sensitive information was discussed. One was between Hegseth and UK SecDef John Healey the day after the US announced it was cutting off military intelligence sharing with Ukraine.

… Gavin Newsom went on Bill Maher’s show and had more criticism for Democrats: “The Democratic brand is toxic right now.” He said Democrats have become too condescending and judgmental: “We talk down to people. We talk past people.”

… Newsom also defended his decision to host Charlie Kirk on his first podcast, followed a few days later by Steve Bannon: “This idea that we can’t even have a conversation with the other side?!”

… A new CBS poll on whether Trump’s policies are making you better off: Last month-42%. Now-23%.

… Newsweek noted that 5 leading indicators of a looming recession are all bad: consumer confidence, late credit card payments, business uncertainty, trade policy uncertainty index, and inflation projections.

… Atlantic editor Jeffrey Goldberg was asked about NSA Mike Waltz’s claim that he never met him and doesn’t know how he was in his phone: "This isn't The Matrix. Phone numbers don't just get sucked into other phones. I don't know what he's talking about - my phone number was in his phone because my phone number was in his phone. He's telling everyone that he's never met me or spoken to me. That's simply not true."

… New Fox host Lara Trump asked Interior Secretary Doug Bergum when her father-in-law is going to have his face on Mt. Rushmore: “The Dept of Interior is in charge of the National Park Service. The NPS is in charge of Mt. Rushmore. Will we ever see President Trump’s face on Mount Rushmore?” Bergum: “They certainly have room for it there.”

… Burgum then mentioned that they are having a huge fireworks display at Rushmore on July 4, 2026 to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, and that may be the appropriate time to possibly unveil Trump’s face added to the monument.

… Delaware AG Kathy Jennings has formed a coalition of 21 state AGs who signed a letter which was sent to the 100 largest law firms in the US imploring them not to surrender to Trump’s threats: “Recent actions by the Trump admin targeting individual law firms and attorneys and statements attacking, and calling for the impeachment of, fed judges represent a clear threat to our system of justice and our profession. President Trump’s recent orders and statements – plus recent letters to law firms from the Acting Chair of the EEOC – lay bare the admin’s desire to silence and suppress opposition to its policies, including by making it harder for those who oppose the admin’s policies to secure legal representation.

… Indeed, the chilling effect of the admin’s strategy is demonstrated by the acquiescence of the Paul, Weiss law firm to the President’s demands for policy support in exchange for relief from his executive order targeting that firm. As state AGs, we stand for the rule of law. As members of the legal profession and of our state bars, we all must stand together. The President’s attacks on the practice of law must not, and will not, subvert our zealous representation of our clients. We also stand firm in our support of the federal judiciary and judicial independence. We categorically reject the President’s calls for the impeachment of judges in response to rulings contrary to positions his administration has advanced.”

… Rep. Luna went on Fox to say that she may have found proof that Lee Harvey Oswald could not have assassinated JFK: “I would like to tell the American people it was made aware to me this evening that NBC actually has a video that has never been seen before that allegedly shows Oswald near a vehicle at the time, which means it couldn’t have been him.”

… Luna is always working hard for her constituents.

… HuffPost reported that taxpayers spent over $26 million on various expenses associated with Trump’s golf outings to his own courses. Trump played golf again this weekend in FL. He has now played golf 18 of his first 69 days in office.

… But it was money well spent, as Trump and Lindsey Graham allegedly won another golf tournament on Trump’s golf course this weekend, where they played as partners.

… 9-time Wimbledon champion Martina Navratilova: “Playing golf again? Donnie doesn’t play tennis because: 1. He is not very good; and 2. It’s much harder to cheat in tennis than golf.”